The Federal Minister for Commerce, Mohammad
Pervaiz Malik said this while chairing a briefing on Pak-Thailand and Pak-China
FTA. Mr. Taimur Tajammal,
Joint Secretary (FT-1) and also the chief negotiator on the FTA, briefed the
honourable minister on the state of negotiations with Thailand & China.
Mr.
Mohammad Pervaiz Malik expressed satisfaction over the progress of FTA
negotiations and the preparation of the negotiating team and directed them to
work vigorously to conclude the agreements in best interest of Pakistan and at
the same time addressing the concerns of the local industry.
Speaking to the
negotiating team, the minister was of the view that while negotiating FTA with
Thailand, Pakistan is also looking to access a huge untapped market of the
whole East Asian Region. From the same region, the minister added, Pakistan has
already concluded successful FTAs with Malaysia and Indonesia.
Earlier, the
Pakistan's Ambassador to Belgium Mrs. Naghmana Hashmi and Pakistan's Economic
Minister in Brussels, Mr. Omer Hameed called on Minister for Commerce and
briefed minister about the situation of bilateral trade between Pakistan and
Brussels and appraised commerce minister on the areas of trade & investment
between the two countries.
Mohammad Pervaiz Malik directed them to work relentlessly
for boosting exports of Pakistan to Brussels and to look for opportunities to
increase trade, investment and cooperation between the two countries.
The Commerce
Minister, later on also visited the National Tariff Commission Office in
Islamabad where he was given briefing by Chairman NTC, Mr. Qasim M. Niaz about
the structure, working, achievements and problems faced by NTC.
Commerce
Minister, Mohammad Pervaiz Malik expressed satisfaction over the performance of
National Tariff Commission and assured them of full support of the Commerce
Ministry in resolving the issues faced by them.
